Danville Register & Bee

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID *** and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me This has been worked out
Regards,
*** ***

Response to customer complaint, ID# [redacted]
Mrs. [redacted] mentioned in her complaint that she has missed her newspaper “plenty of times.”  We show a missed paper complaint in our database that was from January 2014 and they have not called since that time.  In all...

fairness to us, we cannot fix a delivery problem unless we know the issue exists.  We want to hear from our customers that have a delivery problem so we can satisfy their requests or issues.  If this happens again she needs to call our customer service center at [redacted]  We pride ourselves with world class delivery service and we intend to, and do, fix any delivery issues that arise.  We have a customer service satisfaction rating that averages at 99.85%.
She also mentioned that “plenty of times” she has received a paper that is incomplete.  We show that she did call one time in June 2014 about an incomplete paper.  What was missing is unknown but in most of these cases, it’s a sales flier that is missing or the carrier accidently puts two of the same piece together.  Another newspaper should have been delivered to her at that time and the issue resolved.  As with any production facility of any kind, there is an occasional newspaper that may miss a particular piece of that day’s newspaper.  If that happens again she simply needs to call our customer service center at [redacted] and a replacement newspaper will be delivered to her.
Mrs. [redacted]’s major complaint stems from an apparent billing issue.  After researching her account I will provide you with her billing history below.
She was mailed invoices on 6/27 (2013), 7/24, 8/28, 9/11, 10/9, 10/30, and 11/27 (2013).  We did not receive a payment for the August invoice.  Is this the missing invoice she is referring to?  The next one month payment of $15.75 was not received until October but at that point they were in arrears almost 6 weeks.  Actual date of payment was 10/3 with an expiration date of 9/21.  Knowing that one month was not paid, a two month payment should have been paid.  We only received a one month payment.   I show that we did produce an invoice and we did mail the invoice.  The only logical reason she would not have received it is lost mail.  If she did not receive it but knows she has to pay monthly as she states she has done for 20 years, all she had to do was call our customer service center at [redacted] to request another one. 
For clearer understanding, we offer a courtesy to our customers in a 28 day grace period to pay past their expiration date in the event they need more time to pay.  After that 28 day grace period the account reverts to what we call “carrier collect.”  Our carriers are independent contractors and in this case, Mrs. [redacted] was responsible to pay the carrier for not only the arrears but moving forward.  Her office billing would have stopped while in carrier collect status.  This is why she was not getting billed from the office during that period of time.
Since her account was in carrier collect, each time she made a one month payment (to the office) all of those monies were paying arrears.  For one example, a one month payment was received on 5/22 with an account expiration date of 5/10.  You can see that the account has stayed in arrears almost 6 weeks since the missing payment in August of 2013.  On 6/17 she called and asked for an invoice.  Did she not receive another invoice?  The account remained in arrears until she made a payment of $17.09 on 7/9, all of which was used to pay for arrears.  There was no payment made between the 5/22 payment and the payment made on 7/9.  The 7/9 payment was the last one we received.  Her account was stopped for nonpayment on 7/24/14 due to owing over 2 months of service.  
I am sorry that Mrs. [redacted] has had so many invoicing and account issues.  It is our intention to please every single customer of the Register & Bee in every way possible and we feel we do just that very well.  Again, should she have any further issues of any kind, a quick call to our customer service center at [redacted] will fix the problem.  The account has now been restarted and is paid, at a 50% discount, with an expiration date of 10/29/14.  
[redacted]
Director of Circulation

Upon receipt of your letter we reviewed Mr. [redacted]’s file and show no complaints since November. We followed up with a call to Mr. [redacted] on 12/22 but could not reach him. We will monitor his account to be sure we have solved the delivery problem. If you require additional information, please...

let me know.        [redacted]

Review: I have been taking the paper for 20 years and in the last year our paper delivery has been awful. We have had several different carriers and in the last month we have missed more papers than we have received. I have called the business, sent emails to them and they promise better service every time. I enjoy my morning paper and when we do receive it, it is often in the late morning or afternoon. I pay for this service and the company promised to extend my papers coverage for missed paper, but what good is that if I I will not receive the paper anyway. It's a shame, but the only solution I see if to cancel my subscription. What a poor way for a previously well known company to treat their long time customers. [redacted]Desired Settlement: We want our paper before 8 a m each day

Business

Response:

Upon receipt of your letter we reviewed Mr. [redacted]’s file and show no complaints since November. We followed up with a call to Mr. [redacted] on 12/22 but could not reach him. We will monitor his account to be sure we have solved the delivery problem. If you require additional information, please let me know. [redacted]

Review: Have been a customer 20 years+, never missed payment, loyal customer. all of a sudden they stopped sending bill, and when I didnt receive bill I didnt pay. called about this issue SEVERAL times. ONLY time I didnt pay is when I didnt get bill. Its not my job to call them and see how much I owe, its their job to send bill in a timely fashion thats what they get paid for. ALSO been plenty of times we didnt receive paper or paper was not complete.Desired Settlement: start doing there job and send out bills, and I would have paid them like I have been for nearly 20 years. this problem needs to be bought to there attention and fixed ASAP!!!!!!!!!! OH AND ALSO DELIEVER PAPERS EVERYDAY and not half of a paper!!

Business

Response:

Response to customer complaint, ID# [redacted]

Mrs. [redacted] mentioned in her complaint that she has missed her newspaper “plenty of times.” We show a missed paper complaint in our database that was from January 2014 and they have not called since that time. In all fairness to us, we cannot fix a delivery problem unless we know the issue exists. We want to hear from our customers that have a delivery problem so we can satisfy their requests or issues. If this happens again she needs to call our customer service center at [redacted] We pride ourselves with world class delivery service and we intend to, and do, fix any delivery issues that arise. We have a customer service satisfaction rating that averages at 99.85%.

She also mentioned that “plenty of times” she has received a paper that is incomplete. We show that she did call one time in June 2014 about an incomplete paper. What was missing is unknown but in most of these cases, it’s a sales flier that is missing or the carrier accidently puts two of the same piece together. Another newspaper should have been delivered to her at that time and the issue resolved. As with any production facility of any kind, there is an occasional newspaper that may miss a particular piece of that day’s newspaper. If that happens again she simply needs to call our customer service center at [redacted] and a replacement newspaper will be delivered to her.

Mrs. [redacted]’s major complaint stems from an apparent billing issue. After researching her account I will provide you with her billing history below.

She was mailed invoices on 6/27 (2013), 7/24, 8/28, 9/11, 10/9, 10/30, and 11/27 (2013). We did not receive a payment for the August invoice. Is this the missing invoice she is referring to? The next one month payment of $15.75 was not received until October but at that point they were in arrears almost 6 weeks. Actual date of payment was 10/3 with an expiration date of 9/21. Knowing that one month was not paid, a two month payment should have been paid. We only received a one month payment. I show that we did produce an invoice and we did mail the invoice. The only logical reason she would not have received it is lost mail. If she did not receive it but knows she has to pay monthly as she states she has done for 20 years, all she had to do was call our customer service center at [redacted] to request another one.

For clearer understanding, we offer a courtesy to our customers in a 28 day grace period to pay past their expiration date in the event they need more time to pay. After that 28 day grace period the account reverts to what we call “carrier collect.” Our carriers are independent contractors and in this case, Mrs. [redacted] was responsible to pay the carrier for not only the arrears but moving forward. Her office billing would have stopped while in carrier collect status. This is why she was not getting billed from the office during that period of time.

Since her account was in carrier collect, each time she made a one month payment (to the office) all of those monies were paying arrears. For one example, a one month payment was received on 5/22 with an account expiration date of 5/10. You can see that the account has stayed in arrears almost 6 weeks since the missing payment in August of 2013. On 6/17 she called and asked for an invoice. Did she not receive another invoice? The account remained in arrears until she made a payment of $17.09 on 7/9, all of which was used to pay for arrears. There was no payment made between the 5/22 payment and the payment made on 7/9. The 7/9 payment was the last one we received. Her account was stopped for nonpayment on 7/24/14 due to owing over 2 months of service.

I am sorry that Mrs. [redacted] has had so many invoicing and account issues. It is our intention to please every single customer of the Register & Bee in every way possible and we feel we do just that very well. Again, should she have any further issues of any kind, a quick call to our customer service center at [redacted] will fix the problem. The account has now been restarted and is paid, at a 50% discount, with an expiration date of 10/29/14.

Director of Circulation

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me. This has been worked out.

Regards,

Review: Non delivery of newpaper even after numerous contacts and attempts to contact business. This was paid for in advance.Desired Settlement: Would like the entire amount of my 3 month subscription refunded. And mainly, I would like someone to tell me why this problem has been allowed to go on for so long without any correction. The number of calls I have made to try and remedy the problem is ridiculous.

Business

Response:

Company states the complaint has been resolved and the consumer is satisfied.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me. Management has gone above and beyond to address the issue of newspaper delivery. I would like to thank them for their prompt attention to my problem. Regards,[redacted]